Time is of the essence to 6-year-old clock connoisseur

Friday

Nov 23, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 23, 2007 at 10:23 PM

Hickory Dickory Dock, this 6-year-old boy loves a clock. Short or tall, it matters none. Rhythm or Seiko, it matters some. Cuckoo or classic, he has them too. Some come in different colors, even red and blue. Hickory Dickory Dock, Chevy Ash has a clock -- err, clocks. Many clocks. Count them. One, two, three, four ... 599, 600, 601?!

Benjamin Duer

Hickory Dickory Dock, this 6-year-old boy loves a clock.
Short or tall, it matters none. Rhythm or Seiko, it matters some.
Cuckoo or classic, he has them too. Some come in different colors, even red and blue.
Hickory Dickory Dock, Chevy Ash has a clock -- err, clocks.
Many clocks.
Count them. One, two, three, four ... 599, 600, 601?!
Loving Time
Chevy, the son of Michelle and Peter Ash, is not a typical boy, preferring a suit and tie -- not a dirty shirt and jeans -- to tumble around in.
And with a smile, he’ll shake your hand.
Just as unusual is his hobby -- collecting watches and clocks. They are “beautiful works of art,” Chevy says, squirming in a chair.
His tick-tock gallery takes up two rooms in his parents’ New Philadelphia home. The collection comes in different shapes, sizes, colors and brands.
Rhythm Watch Co. of Japan produces some of his favorite clocks – classic designs with soothing sounds of French horns and melodic strings.
Seiko Clocks is another favorite.
Forget Toys
“Clock,” was one of Chevy’s first words, said Michelle Ash, tracing her son’s interest in timepieces back to a trip to the hospital.
It was in 2002.
Chevy, at 13 months, had a cold. In the hospital he saw a two-sided clock. A passion ignited.
Chevy’s mom said: “We thought it would be a passing thing,” but her son would pick DVDs on the making of clocks over “Blue’s Clues”; a pocket watch over a train set.
His birthday cakes have clock images. He bypasses toys in the stores for watches. He owns a clock given to him by his parents after he successfully was potty trained.
And, for Halloween, Chevy dresses as -- what else -- a clock.
His passion for clocks doesn’t mean he is stuck on time and has no other interests.
He is a kid, after all.
“I like to go to the pool and have some good times and play with my friends,” he said.
A Member of the Clock Club
But, at age 6, Chevy also is one of the youngest collectors of clocks and watches in the U.S., a member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC).
That’s right, there is a club.
There are 2,300 members, including a cat and 17 youths, in the national organization, said Jim Bland, marketing director for NAWCC.
“Kids like things that make them think and cause them to wonder and imagine,” and the mechanics of clocks get some kids excited, Bland said.
That seems about right.
Chevy, showing off his gallery, said he loves clocks because they have “movement and gears and stuff inside them... (and) they play music.”
And he’ll get to mess with this “stuff” soon.
“Me and my dad are going to build a clock,” he blurts out, while rolling around on his bed.
By the way, his bed sheets have clock designs.
Sleeps Well
When this clock is built, it’ll take its rightful spot on one of his bedroom walls, sharing space with more than 50 clocks and a poster of the nursery rhyme “Hickory Dickory Dock.”
Michelle Ash said most of the clocks in her son’s room do not run constantly, so Chevy can sleep soundly.
Which one of his roughly 600 clocks, you might ask, is his alarm clock?
Well, of course, that would be mom.

Canton Repository

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